My Xmas frock (a.k.a the raglan rocks again)

 

My best laid plan to be super-organised for staff Christmas party frock-sewing was unsurprisingly thwarted by a combo of (in no particular order) work, Pinterest, kids, another sewing project, catching up with mates, Downton Abbey, fatigue and the sporadic necessity that is domesticity. So cue a quick, simple and effective pattern and after the success and ease that was this one, I couldn't go past the raglan sleeve again.

 

As with the top, I eliminated the centre front seam and just followed the line of the pattern to create a shift dress. I decided to combine blue and black because I am a longtime sucker for that colour combo. I rest my fashion case here and here.

The sleeves are made up in a French lace - Ardoise/Noir - which features a fine black cording. The main part of the dress is When Night Rings, a polyamide/polyester chosen for it's body and hold. The fabric is quite thick, so I decided to add some topstitching to minimise bulk along the seam allowances.

As a design feature, I created a slit facing at the neckline. I did find that slicing into an almost-finished garment requires a fairly enormous leap of faith, so I strongly recommend you do a trial on a scrap piece of fabric beforehand because there is absolutely NO room for error here. If you're interested in a how-to, there's a nice little Burdastyle tutorial here.

 

Thanks to Vikki's clever suggestion, I used some block-fused lace for the neckline facing. Across the shoulder where the sheer lace sits, I faced with a flesh coloured nylon tulle.

Simple and relatively quick. Just the way I like my patterns these days....